Girls Vacation to Sedona, Arizona: Day Four

Our day started today with a hike up to Bell Rock with the girls.  It was already pretty hot when we left the house at 8:00 am, but we really wanted to get up close to the rock.

 This is as close as we got.  We were WAY too overheated by the time we got there:

We spent the rest of the day exploring downtown Sedona, eating lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, admiring the plants, and touring the area to see the different red rocks. 

Nicole liked this one because it's our favorite college football team's (University of Washington Huskies) colors :)

Tomorrow we'll be off on another adventure!

Girls Vacation to Sedona, Arizona: Day Three

Today we woke up bright and early and traveled to Montezuma's Well.  There wasn't really much to see here, other than a couple of rock houses built into the side of the cliff overlooking the water.  The girls really enjoyed reading about the ancient civilization that occupied that area.

 

 

Then we traveled to Montezuma's Castle:

 By this time the girls were starting to get a little tired and hot :)

 

 

But we still had more things to see!  Next was the Tuzigoot Pueblo Ruin:

We made our way to Jerome, Arizona after this to see the town that clings to the side of the cliffs, before going swimming in Cottonwood.  It was an amazing and full day of adventure!

 



Girls Vacation in Sedona, Arizona: Day Two

Today we took a little tour of the Forest Station down the street from Grandma's and Geri's house. 

The girls are taller than their Grandma!

We had lunch outside at a hotel just a couple of blocks from their house and this was our view:

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing games with Grandma and Geri. 

Girls Vacation to Sedona, Arizona!

The girls and I traveled to Sedona, Arizona for our first vacation of the summer.  The first day, we didn't arrive into Phoenix until dinner time, so we stayed the night at a hotel in Phoenix.  We took advantage of the pool the next morning and had an amazing time!



On the way to Grandma's and Geri's house after swimming, we stopped at the Phoenix Art Museum.  On the walls leading to the museum, there were millions of paper butterflies that would flutter in the breeze.  It was breathtaking!

By the time we got to Sedona we were really tired but so excited to visit with Grandma, Geri, and Sassy :)

Gulf Shore Vacation for the Fortner Family!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted!  We have had a busy year.  We have moved across the country (from Seattle to the Alabama Gulf Coast) into a rental house, and then bought a house near that one and moved again, all in the space of just six months!  The kids are enjoying the new school district, the wonderful sunshine, and meeting new Alabama friends.  Our new house is nestled in a smaller neighborhood with a swimming pool, tennis courts, and common area where the kids can safely play.  Our street is a secluded cul-de-sac with lots of wonderful neighbors and friends surrounding us.  Even Buddy, our dog, has made a new best friend :) 

On the down side, the kids really miss John's family and all of their old friends that they left behind in Washington.  John and I miss our family and friends, and many other things about the Seattle area that we took for granted when we lived there.  This hasn't been an easy transition for us by any means, but we have worked through the stress, obstacles, and challenges we have faced along the way.    

We have traveled a lot in the year since we moved here - with trips to Orlando, Tampa, Oklahoma, Sedona, Pensacola, and Gulf Shores.  At Gulf Shores, we explored the beach with John's mom:

And stayed in a condo on the 20th floor of a building overlooking the beach: 

We just got back today from a week-long vacation at the beach.  We're spending the New Year in our new house and loving every moment of it!

Our Trip To Washington DC

I had the privilege of traveling to Washington DC with Nate and his grandma a couple of weeks ago. While we were there, we saw the Lincoln Memorial, the Pentagon Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, and the WWI and WWII Memorials. We also went to the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of American History, the Crime and Punishment Museum, and the Newseum (a museum about news). At the Newseum, Nate made a cute video of himself reporting live from the White House. I've attached the video below for your viewing pleasure. I have lots of pictures, but have had no time to go through them all.

Here is the picture to accompany the video:

I hope you're all having a great summer!
Shari

A Funny Story...

On Tuesday, John headed out of town bright and early for a management meeting, leaving me alone with the kids. After getting the kids out of bed, showered, dressed, fed, and packed up for school we all headed out to the van. We were running a little late but could definitely make it to school before the first bell. The first clue that something wasn't right came when the van didn't unlock with my key fob. I ran back in and got John's keys, thinking the battery in my remote must have died. When John's key didn't work I thought "That's weird for both of them to die at once, but I'll just have deal with it later." I then unlocked the door of the van with the key (not sure the kids even knew you could do that!) and jumped in the van. After a few seconds I noticed the kids hadn't gotten in yet, so I opened the door and asked them what they were doing. They told me "the doors won't open, we can't get in". It was only then that I noticed that the battery was DEAD! No problem right? I have another car. So, I sent Nate in for the keys to the Blazer and we all piled into it. Now, if you've never seen the Blazer you won't understand how difficult that is. The first kid into the Blazer ALWAYS sits in the front seat, leaving the other kids to climb over that first kid like it's a climbing expedition. The climbing had to be done with backpacks dangling this time. Lets just say that the front seat kid got very banged up this time:(

Moving on. I'm sitting in the front seat and I ask Nate for the keys. He hands me this:

Now really, what am I supposed to do with this? There were two little hanging boxes that I'm apparently supposed to connect with these wires to make the Blazer start. Each of the boxes has eight plugs that I could use to connect them. I busted out laughing and then told Nate he needed to help me if we wanted to get the Blazer started and he looked at me in disbelief. He didn't know how to start it either! We were laughing so hard by this time that the girls thought we'd completely lost it. The climbing expedition had to be repeated, this time to get out of the Blazer, because there was NO way we were going to be able to take that vehicle to the school.

We went back to work on the van, hooking up a charger to it to get it started. Our adventure only set us back by about 10 minutes to start to finish, but it sure did make for an exciting day! Nate received his first tardy but the school staff got a good laugh out of our story:)